Home made vegan nuggets with texturized soy protein and tempeh as compared to chicken-based ones: Texture, consumer perception and environmental impact

Along with the increasing demands for meat due to the growth of population, environmental concerns are raised. Under these circumstances, more substitutes for meat are brought to the market, however, with unsatisfying flavor characteristics. Hence, this research aimed to develop a new version of vegan nuggets based on texturized soy protein (TSP), but with the incorporation of tempeh for flavor improvement. A consumer tests (n = 92) was conducted for evaluating three types of nuggets: chicken nuggets, pure TSP-based nuggets and TSP-based nuggets with added tempeh. Results showed that the chicken nuggets were the most preferred and with more pleasing flavor characteristics; no differences were detected between the two TSP-based nuggets. Subsequently, a 2nd consumer evaluation (n = 80), focused on taste differentiation between the two TSP-based nuggets was conducted. Results indicated that the incorporation of tempeh in the formulation had little effect on overall liking but altered intensities of sweet, bitter and cheesy taste. Besides, texture profile analysis (TPA) showed significant differences on instrumental texture parameters among the types of nuggets. On the other hand, results of life-cycle assessment pointed out a variation of impacts which depended on different functional units used: carbon footprint based on kg of product and on kg of protein showed opposite results; other factors, especially formulation and processing method had significant impacts, indicating the importance of product design when developing a more environmentally friendly meat-alternative. Future research should focus on further improvement of the recipe for plant-based nuggets, both from sensory and environmental aspects.